If you’re a close friend of mine you are bound to get a text every once in a while that I need models to try out a new idea or location. I love shooting in wooded areas. The colors are often rich and there are lots of opportunities for shade so I’m not limited to sunrise or sunset. I have only been to the Florida Botanical Gardens a handful of times and have never done a shoot there besides just playing around with my youngest daughter. I’m hoping to do some family shoots there this fall so I’ve been taking every opportunity that I can to shoot there and find the best spots.

My friend Kristen and I had playdate plans at my house and since I haven’t taken any pictures of her family in a while, I asked if she wanted to meet me at the gardens before heading to my house. We usually only take pictures of her daughter because her son is a little shy and not the photo shoot type. Since his fifth birthday was coming up (actually it’s today, Happy Birthday Kingston!) and five is kind of a big deal I talked Kristen into letting me try to get a few shots of Kingston. If you haven’t noticed, I have a thing for suspenders and bow ties lately so I told her that we’d let him pick his bow tie and bribe him if we had to. Of course I suggested all this the day before so my lovely friend ran to Target in the rain to find a fedora and a pair of khaki shorts.

As you can see from the pictures, Kingston rocked it. I’m so happy that we took a chance because he was great and the pictures turned out perfect. So if you have a kid who is camera shy, take a chance. Prepare them for it, let them help pick out their clothes and a little bribery here and there never hurt anyone. Kingston just needed a little swaying, until his sister Ivy. She was not shy and willing to play dress up so I was able to get a lot of variety with her. I’m bummed that it was so hot and the bugs were biting because we could have easily turned this into a full shoot. We’ll have to go back when it cools down. Here of some of my favorites from that shoot.

It’s tough making quality friends when you’re an adult, especially as an adult who stays at home with the kids. When my oldest daughter was a little over a year old, I joined a few mommy meet-up groups in my area. Hey, I was lonely. It took about a year and a ton of awkward playdates but I found my little tribe of girlfriends who I now keep a running message on Facebook with. They are my go to girls and I sometimes wake up to 70 new messages in the morning. Noelle is part of that tribe and she just moved three hours south. We’ll allow it because of better schools and jobs but you better believe that there is already a girl’s trip being planned.

Noelle saw how much I was loving all the campaigns to normalize breastfeeding so she asked me if I wanted to do a nursing shoot with her and her youngest son before they packed up. I jumped at the chance because I know how special those last few weeks of nursing can be and I knew Noelle would help me really portray the beauty in that.

We met up in the morning in downtown St. Petersburg. We chatted and played with Graham in between nursing snacks by restaurant fronts, the museum and the park. We made it quick because of the heat but we were still able for get some really gorgeous shots. To cool off we stopped into Cassis because no trip downtown can be complete without grabbing some french macarons from their bakery. The pistachio are a particular favorite of mine. Iced mochas, macarons and a mini photo shoot was the perfect send off of a friend who I will miss dearly.